Our Farm and Dogs

Sponsorship vs adoption

For most people - particularly those living outside Finland - sponsorship is more viable than adoption, since the inoculations and paperwork needed to send a dog overseas are complicated, expensive and time-consuming. That said, if you are keen to adopt a husky, please don't be put off.

Dogs in need of sponsorship

Dogs in real need of sponsorship tend to be old or injured dogs that can no longer earn their keep and weren't born here or well socialised when young. Most wouldn't enjoy a new home - they are either too shy to live indoors with humans, or very much outdoor pack animals - so they need to be cared for through sickness and retirement in situ at the farm.

Dogs put up for adoption

Dogs put up for adoption are generally happy, well socialised dogs that respond well to living indoors and being loved by people. They will be more or less house trained and respond to basic obedience commands. Some are ready for graceful retirement and need a tranquil home. Many kennels 'get rid of' their old dogs as soon as they start to slow down, which can be as early as age 6; we let dogs run as long as they want to, so we still have some running at age 11 and 12 - though if the perfect home came along, we would happily retire a dog earlier. Other, younger dogs may have an injury that rules out working life but would still make a totally loving dog in a normal household. Still others may not suit the high arctic but would be happy to skijor and mush with you for fun.

Proactive, not reactive

Regular, thorough checks let us catch lumps and bumps early, keep the pack free of fleas and mites, and watch for eye conditions such as Panus, which one of our rescued dogs needs daily treatment to manage. We believe good dog care is proactive rather than reactive, whatever the weather or the mosquitos.

Head to paw

Bellies and ears are prone to fly bites in summer, and nipples and testicles to frostbite in winter, so vulnerable dogs are checked extra often and brought indoors when needed. Feet and nails get a manicure at least monthly, teeth get a dental session at least monthly, and we even invest in anti-mosquito magnets for both dogs and guides.

Time, training and affection

Every dog follows a year-round training programme tailored to its stage, motivation and potential. Beyond that, we simply spend time with them, cuddling, grooming and playing in our running fences. Fluffier dogs are groomed twice a week to prevent matting, and our oldies get regular massages to keep their joints supple, especially in winter.

Found dogs

Found a dog and need to hand him over for his owners to find? Call 050 577 2762. Please leave a text if we don't answer immediately, as we may be in a meeting or on a safari, and we will call you back as soon as possible. If you have a picture of the dog, send it to info (at) hettahuskies.com - we may immediately recognise 'frequent offenders' (dogs allowed to wander and often picked up by well-wishers)!

In your message, please tell us: your name; your phone number; your location; what kind of dog you have found (if you know); and a description (gender, coat and eye colour, approximate size and age, general condition).

If you can get the pet to us, great. If you have no time or transport, we will come to collect it as soon as we can. We then technically have 15 days to find the owner or a new home before the animal should be put down, but we always try our utmost to keep it until a new home is found.

Missing dogs

Please let us know if your pet is missing by calling 050 577 2762 and ideally send an email with a picture through to us on info (at) hettahuskies.com. Please include: what pet is missing (breed / appearance, colour, sex, size, whether marked for identification, colour of collar, microchip number); when and where the pet was lost from; a picture / pictures; and the owner's contact information (name, phone number, email address). Please do let us know if your pet has been found.

Picking up your dog

When you pick up your dog, you will be charged for its stay. Standard daily rates (as per a hotel dog) apply, plus any costs incurred in its rescue and care - for example, the mileage and time cost if we had to drive to collect it. We assess the dog on arrival and decide whether it can go straight into a holding pen or needs immediate care first: washing, grooming, cutting matted hair, trimming overlong nails, cleaning and medicating wounds, or a trip to the vet. We carry out whatever treatment we deem necessary and charge you accordingly.

Contact

Hetta Huskies, Hetantie 211, Enontekio 99400. Tel: 050 577 2762. Email: info (at) hettahuskies.com. www.hettahuskies.com / https://www.facebook.com/enontekiostrays

Dogs as animals

Before looking at huskies in detail, it is worth considering dogs as animals. Dogs were domesticated 33,000 years ago, and their behaviour and physiology can no longer be compared to those of wolves. One difference in social hierarchy is that within a group of dogs, several male and female pairs can procreate.

Semi-feral dogs spend their time acquiring food, resting and tending to social relationships within the pack. Food-related behaviour - searching, hunting and tearing food to pieces - is a significant need for any dog, and the breed affects how pronounced such behavioural needs are.

Dogs have sensitive hearing, good vision and a wider field of vision than humans, while their primary tool of communication is smell. They adapt well to prevailing circumstances, though individuals differ. They are intelligent animals that need activation to maintain their mental and physical well-being, and much of their happiness comes from species-typical activities: exercising in varying surroundings, exploring by sniffing and running free. (Telkanranta Helena 2015, Hyvinvoiva koira, 9.)

Breeds used as sled dogs

Several breeds are well-suited to acting as sled dogs. Siberian huskies and Alaskan huskies are the breeds most commonly used as sled dogs in the tourism industry in Lapland. However on our farm, we also have Malamutes, Nenet-Laika-Taimyr crosses and Taimyrs. Another source of information about dogs in general that we have found interesting is http://www.doggenetics.co.uk/. Enjoy.

A wide variety of sled dogs

At present, we have more than 200 dogs on the farm. Most of our dogs are Alaskan huskies, although we also have some Siberian huskies - the breed that most people envisage when they think of huskies - as well as two primitive Siberian breeds: Taimyrs and Nenet Laika crosses.

In other words we have a very wide variety of sled dogs. The fluffier ones (eg Siberians, as in the header image) tend to run the multiday safaris, whereas the typical Alaskan huskies tend to run the day-length tours and come home at night to recuperate in their well-insulated kennels. Of course if the temperatures are said to be 'high' for a while, we also try to ensure that our best Alaskans get the fun of running the multidays too.

High standards and proud guides

While we work within an EU project to raise general safety and dog-care standards in Northern Europe, we continue to operate to our own exacting standards of product quality and dog care. Our guides are expected to know the individual character of every dog, to train them (and themselves) to a high standard and to take pride in the results. Used to high demands in everything they do, they naturally listen well and 'work one step ahead' in meeting client expectations too. We are confident your experience will be one of the safest, most responsible and most pleasurable husky-mushing experiences possible in Northern Europe - and we hope you fall in love with our dogs too!

A labour of high standards

Maintaining a farm to high standards is very labour-intensive. As owners, we believe we have a huge responsibility to provide a safe, clean, positive and healthy environment for all our huskies and to manage them humanely. This attitude runs through every aspect of our company and is part of what makes us stand out.

We try to draw attention to the care of our sled dogs - what they eat, where they live and what they sleep in - so that clients learn to factor it in when choosing a sleddog farm and mushing experience. We believe it should matter as much as the price of the tour (and our prices are at the very reasonable end of the scale), yet much of the industry gives it little importance. We are told time and again that our farm stands out from most others in this respect.

Certification Plus

MUSH with P.R.I.D.E. is currently the only international industry standard, so we had our farm assessed by a vet against its recommended kennel standards. We were not surprised to find we not only passed but exceeded them in many ways, gaining their highest possible rating - Certification Plus: a symbol of excellence reflecting the emphasis we put on the care of our dogs.

Records and a no-kill policy

Our written dog files - covering everything from behaviour to vaccination and medical records, running distances and basic obedience - are pretty much unsurpassed and a source of real pride. So too is the fact that ours is one of the very few kennels in Scandinavia with a 'no-kill' policy for retirees and non-running dogs, so every dog here can live out its days enjoying a hard-earned rest. (For four years, Transun UK's sleddog farm Valimaa, in Kultima c. 40km from Hetta, was also under our management, and during those years their dogs benefitted from our no-kill policy and high welfare standards too.)

Why it matters

If this matters to you and you are choosing between companies, you will need to dig a little deeper to find the reality of how the animals are cared for. And even if it is not a deal breaker, it is worth knowing that companies with a real ethical commitment to their dogs tend to be the same ones with good reputations for looking after their human clients! In 2015 our work to raise standards in the sleddog industry earned us a GOLD in the World Responsible Tourism Awards for the Best Animal Welfare Initiative.

How will I know if the farm looks after the dogs well?

Check the images and information in their marketing materials, and see how open they are about their standards when questioned - or whether they are evasive. Reputable kennels can offer detailed, transparent information about the care of their dogs. Most good farms post plenty of images of their farm and kennels, not just the standard pictures of people and children cuddling dogs, because they are proud of how well maintained and clean it is. If a farm is unwilling to be fully transparent about animal care, there is likely a problem.

Ask some more questions

Ask how many people look after the dogs in both summer and winter, and how experienced they are, since this reveals how well the manager, guides and farmhands actually know the dogs. A core group who intimately know, love and provide continuity of care for the dogs is critical to their welfare and safety. Most farms with c. 100 dogs have only a couple of people caring for them in summer, and some with up to 600 dogs still have only three or four. We have guides who return year after year, forming the backbone of our team alongside trainees who stay with us for a minimum of three months.

Industry standards

Although most Scandinavian kennels get annual vet visits, the standards they can measure against are so minimal that the visit is almost a token gesture, and the only internationally recognised standard - Mush with Pride - asks fairly little. The one region to do serious work here is British Columbia, Canada, which around 2012 introduced both a Sled Dog Code of Practice and a Sled Dog Standards of Care Regulation under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. Nothing like this exists in Scandinavia, so kennels can get away with doing 'not very much' for their dogs.

End of life plan

On most farms, dogs are put down as soon as their useful life is over. Hetta Huskies - along with about five or six other farms we know of - has a no-cull policy. (Farms can legally shoot their own dogs so long as the person with the gun is capable of doing so.) We keep the puppies we breed rather than treating them as a revenue generator, because they are a valuable part of our family. Our old dogs have large running fences to wander in together, and when they near the end of their time they are brought into the house for some comfy months on the sofa and beds. Our sleddogs are pretty lucky to be on our farm.

Health monitoring and feeding

Few farms do regular checks like we do; most are simply reactive. Area vets call us the 'lump and bump farm', amused by the size of the lumps we find in our weekly dog checks. We keep detailed records of everything from medicine use to full medical histories, vaccination and deworming schedules. Each dog's weight is checked weekly and portions adjusted for the kilometres run and the ambient temperature. Sled dogs burn anywhere from 1000 to 7000 calories a day, sometimes more, so each has a feeding plan specific to its needs. Touring sled dogs must be very well trained, muscularly fit and of sufficient weight to keep them and you safe on the trails - fit, not skinny.